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Education Mission

The Education Department at the New-York Historical Society offers a wealth of resources and learning opportunities designed to make history come alive!

Education programs are made possible through endowments established by the National Endowment for the Humanities and The Hearst Foundations. Public funds are provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The New-York Historical Society recognizes the leadership support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York for its K - 12 Educational Enrichment Programs in 2015-2016.

The New-York Historical Society is grateful to the generous supporters of its educational initiatives, including the Hertog Foundation, the Emilie Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation, the Barker Welfare Foundation, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the Keith Haring Foundation, Ray Lent and Placer Partners, the Bay and Paul Foundations, the Alice Lawrence Foundation, the C. Jay Moorhead Foundation, The Angela and Scott Jaggar Foundation, and the Henry Nias Foundation.

Support the New-York Historical Society

Help us present groundbreaking exhibitions and develop educational programs about our nation's history for more than 200,000 schoolchildren annually.

Private Professional Development

New-York Historical Society offers custom teacher workshops at your school or in our Museum on a range of topics, depending on your needs. All custom workshops incorporate American history, primary sources, as well as our inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning.

Teachers will discover the untold story of the history of slavery in New York. This program examines the role enslaved people played in the development of New York under Dutch, British and American rule. All participants will receive curriculum materials created to accompany the exhibition.

Teachers explore the motives that drove people to immigrate to New York City and their diverse experiences once they arrived in their new country through engaging with and interpreting primary sources.

This workshop will lead educators through the complexities of colonial New York City to enhance their understanding of early interactions among peoples and nations. Participants will receive the Life in New Amsterdam: Cultures, Commerce and Community curriculum guide.

Abraham Lincoln made his mark in New York City and the City transformed Lincoln’s career. Through exploration of artifacts and documents from our exhibition Lincoln and New York, teachers will discover Lincoln’s complex relationship with the City, his campaign for the presidency and the lasting legacy he left for our nation. All participants will receive curriculum materials created to accompany the exhibition.

The story of the Chinese people in the United States connects directly to some of the most compelling themes in American history: immigration, identity, westward expansion, racism and nativism, the importance of workers, and the power of individual and family stories. Through the analysis of primary source materials culled from the exhibition Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion, teachers will develop a deeper understanding of the centuries-long history of trade and immigration between China and the United States and consider the question, “What does it mean to be an American?” All participants will receive curriculum materials created to accompany the exhibition.

Through the study of primary source documents, teachers will learn about the strong bonds and extraordinary lives of people who lived in this unique, integrated community. Residents built homes, a school, churches and cemeteries that were later razed to make way for Central Park. All participants will receive the Seneca Village curriculum guide.

Participants will trace the development of the African-American community in New York from the 1600s through the modern civil rights movement using primary sources, objects from the Touch Collection and artwork.

Using primary sources from New-York Historical Society collections, teachers will explore and understand the causes, effects and significance of the American Revolution, as well as how the new nation began and flourished in New York City. All participants will receive relevant curriculum materials.

Participants will engage in activities using the records of the Children’s Aid Society and the iconic photographs of Lewis Hine to study the Progressive Era in New York, with a focus on child labor and the role of children in society at that time.

Through hands-on work with the New-York Historical Society Touch Collection, this program explores the daily lives of Dutch settlers and how they were shaped by interaction with Native American and enslaved people. All participants will receive the Life in New Amsterdam: Cultures, Commerce and Community curriculum guide.

The New-York Historical Society's world-renowned Hudson River School paintings are among the texts that provide the content of this workshop. In conjunction with artifacts and documents, teachers will explore the economic and romantic appeal of the West, the role of the Erie Canal, the frontier experience and the impact of expansion on Native Americans. All participants will receive relevant curriculum materials.

Before Peter Stuyvesant, there was Jan Rodriguez, a Spanish-speaking man and the first non-native inhabitant of what was to become New Amsterdam and later New York. Discover the vital role the Spanish-speaking world played and continues to play in New York City through investigating artifacts and artwork from the exhibition Nueva York: 1613–1945, organized in collaboration with El Museo del Barrio. Participants will receive curriculum materials created to accompany the exhibition.

In the years leading up to the Civil War, New York was a virtual "Capital of the South," with major commercial and political ties to Southern slavery. At the same time, however, the City was also a major center of the nation's abolitionist movement. Using images and digital resources, teachers will understand the complicated relationship between New York City and Southern slavery in the years following New York State abolition in 1827. All participants will receive curriculum materials created to accompany the exhibition.

Harnessing the power and emotional energy of American musical theater and evocative primary sources from our collection, the American Musicals Project (AMP) consists of ten exciting units for use in Social Studies and ELA classrooms. Each unit incorporates primary sources, script and lyric excerpts, and video clips from some of America’s most beloved musicals. Teachers will learn how to use the resources and will come away with strategies to bring the materials directly back to the classrooms.

Through the analysis of paintings, artifacts and documents from this period, teachers will understand the history of the Underground Railroad. They will examine the involvement and impact it had on the abolition movement and the people of New York State.

Participants will analyze and explore a variety of picture books and primary sources to study key content areas in the elementary school social studies curriculum. In addition, the course will address ways to use children’s books to develop language, recognize diversity, support cross-curricular teaching and differentiate instruction for struggling readers, ELL students, and for the Gifted and Talented.